Passenger car sales declined by over 50% in Europe’s major markets in March as lockdowns imposed because of the coronavirus took their toll, data revealed on Friday.
In March, new car registrations declined by 51.8% to 853,077 vehicles in the European Union, Britain and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries, figures from the European Auto Industry Association (ACEA) revealed.
Sales dropped in all EU markets, with Italy – hit hardest by the pandemic in the continent – reporting the largest drop of 85.4%, while registrations declined by 37.7% in Germany, 72.2% in France and 69.3% in Spain.
Volkswagen Group’s sales declined by 43.6% in March, while Renault and PSA Group posted a decline of 63.7% and 66.9%, respectively.
Sales of cars made by BMW, which was one of the few automakers reporting a boost in European sales in the previous months, declined by 39.7%, while demand for competitor Daimler declined by 40.6%.
The decline in registrations comes as most of the car dealerships in Europe were closed during the second half of March as part of the measures to control the spread of the pandemic.
On Thursday, Volkswagen withdrew its 2020 guidance because of uncertainty related to the outbreak which caused operating profit to decline 81% in the first quarter.
Coronavirus has so far infected more than 1,143,786 people in Europe and killed more than 101,804 people in the continent.
